Little Piney Trip June 14

[SamC489]

Thanks for the help guys. You really make me feel warm and fuzzy about ozark hospitality, hopefully a "good 'ol boy" doesn't make me squeal like a pig.

[hfdhoosier]

I have never fished the Little Piney, but usually blue ribbon waters allow you to keep one fish over 18 inches per day. Always wanted to fish the Little Piney, interested in hearing your report. The place you stay at could probably give you the best info on the river. Good luck, steer clear of any banjo music. haha

[Gavin]

Youll be fine...the USFS campground at Lane is a pretty nice and it has a host on site, think its $8 bucks a day to camp. Spots next to the creek go quickly. Heres a map that shows the special reg areas, property boundaries, and access points. If the fishing on the LP stinks its a short ride over to Mill or Spring Creek. The Current is about an hour away. Good Luck.

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/documents/fish/sport...t/millcreek.pdf

[SamC489]

Yea, missouri trout hunter had a wealth of info as well.

[Project Healing Waters]

The moral of this story is that the Little Piney is a somewhat "forgotten" stream among area anglers. In part, this is due to the fact that it is almost ONLY fishable from a canoe or kayak. And it is, in part, due to the fact that it is a wild rainbow trout fishery with relatively small average sized fish...of which you can keep exactly NONE.

With that said, that's EXACTLY my kind of stream! Take a 3wt, a 5wt, and a boat. Have some fun...mostly all by yourself.

[creek wader]

I float fished the Little Piney 3 years ago for smallies from Milldam Hollow Access down to Hwy T. I did ok, on smallies, nothing to brag about. I also, caught quite a few goggle eyes and bluegill, that kept the action going. Two years ago, I waded up from Hwy. W (Vida Slab) with my fly rod on Jan. 1., a beautiful day. Didn't catch any trout but, caught quite a few bluegill. I'm not very good with a fly rod and not much of a trout fisherman, but still try.

Anyway, it is a very pretty little stream and one of the fastest moving floatable streams in the Ozarks, with an gradiant around 8 and 9. When I get a chance, I'd like to float it from Lane Spring down to Jerome. I believe a person could do it in a day. But, I'd do a two day trip, to enjoy it and get some fishing in.

[SamC489]

Okay, trip report:

We got to Lane Spring Recreation Area around 10:30 on Saturday, heavily wooded, great place to camp. (The campsites could be a little farther apart, but the heavy woods nearly negate this one tiny qualm.) So we started fishing right down from the site a tiny bit north of lane spring. I caught a goggle eye on a black rooster tail and my friend caught a little smallmouth on a copper john. We went back and had lunch and I decided to switch over to my fly rod. I have fished with it exactly twice and never caught anything. This was soon to change. Second cast: hit, miss. Third cast: landed my first fish on a fly rod, a smallmouth. It was awesome. Over about a three hour period I walked a mile up and a mile down from the spring getting several hits, but only landing one more fish. I caught my second about a half mile south of Lane spring in a deeper bit of water after some shoals. Oh, and the only fly I used was a prince nymph. My dad caught 5 total, including the only rainbow, and my buddy caught 3 total.

Great place to go. hardly anyone else fishing the river, very scenic. Th only problem is the size of the fish, but the rest more than makes up for it.

[plland]

How was the water clarity when you were down there? I was there last week and it was a bit cloudy. I had to use largish, white streamers to get any action. I *almost* caught several small-medium sized rainbows, but never did land anything sizeable.

[SamC489]

How was the water clarity when you were down there? I was there last week and it was a bit cloudy. I had to use largish, white streamers to get any action. I *almost* caught several small-medium sized rainbows, but never did land anything sizeable.

It was pretty clear, but you couldn't see the bottom if it was more than 4 feet deep. I didn't really fish the shoals, so I didn't use any streamers, but was getting fairly regular hits on a nymph in the pools a bit behind shoals.